UPDATE 5: Source: Saudi Arabia ready to cut oil output if Iran freezes it

(Rewrites headline, lede, adds details in second paragraph)

ALGERIA/MOSCOW, Sep 27 (PRIME) -- Saudi Arabia is ready to cut its oil production to the level of January if Iran freezes its oil output at 3.6 million barrels per day, a high-ranking source in the Algerian delegation to the International Energy Forum told PRIME on Tuesday.

“One of the major topics of the discussion was a problem of Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi Arabia said it is ready to decrease the production and to return to January figures if Iran stays at the level of 3.6 million barrels per day. Currently, the Algerian delegation is trying to bring their points of view closer. It is very difficult, as Iran wants to return to 4 million barrels per day,” the source said.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said earlier on Tuesday that Russia will not take part in an informal OPEC meeting in Algeria on Wednesday.

“No, this is a consultative meeting of OPEC,” he told reporters.

“We have to wait, consultations continue right now,” he said when asked whether OPEC members could make a decision to freeze oil production at the meeting.

OPEC can hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday if a consensus is found at the informal meeting, Barkindo also said.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier that Russia’s participation in the meeting will depend on whether agreements are reached inside OPEC.

The level at which oil production could be frozen is subject to discussion, Novak also said, adding that it would be the most profitable for Russia to freeze the output at the current level.

Novak also said he planned to meet with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih later on Tuesday.

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said he hopes that OPEC members will reach an agreement on oil production freeze at the upcoming meeting. Iraq will support any measures aimed at increasing oil prices, he said.

Zangeneh said he came to Algeria only for exchange of opinions over possible oil production freeze.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Energy Minister Suhail Bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said the UAE supports freezing oil production.

Nigeria’s Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said that the country is not ready to decrease oil production from the current level of 1.7 million barrels per day, while freezing production at current levels will not have a serious impact on the oil market.

Anas Al-Saleh, acting oil minister of Kuwait, believes that the OPEC meeting in Algeria will be only consultative, while an official decision on measures to stabilize the oil market will be announced at an OPEC meeting on November 30 in Vienna.

End